1955 Chevrolet Red Corvette - Lucky Man

George Ruiz's '55 Is The Pride Of His Collection

Every day he does something few car enthusiasts do: drives and cares for classic cars. As the caretaker for Mike Frankovich's personal collection of classic '50s American and English automobiles, George is surrounded by nice cars. His biggest dilemma of the day? Is it time to drive the '60 Pontiac convertible or the '57 Chrysler 300D convertible once owned by rock star Richard Carpenter? Decisions, decisions.

So when it came time for George to find a car he wanted to restore and own, '50s cars were first on the list. His final decision: a red '55 Corvette.

The Corvette shown here was restored to original condition by a previous owner who used all the right stuff back in 1970. Fact is, when George purchased the car from the previous owner in 1970, all it really needed was some of George's spectacular cleanup work, which was the perfect set of circumstances. The Gypsy Red paint is a caretaker's dream-beautifully applied lacquer set off with new chrome components and fresh Corvette emblems.

The restoration is true to original condition, which George researched in depth. The interior features all the original equipment, right down to the original radio knobs and perfectly stuffed seat cushions. The suspension was stripped down and repainted black as per factory direction.

While George has a number of other cars, the real joy of his small fleet of vehicles is clearly this convertible he drives as often as weather permits in Southern California. Since there are nearly 320 days of sunshine near his home in Panorama City, this Corvette sees a lot of road duty.

As we said, George Ruiz is a lucky guy.

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